20% Wonder Woman Highest percentage of Captain Marvel personal bondage = #10, 20% 10% Lowest percentage of bondage for Wonder Woman = 6% Highest percentage of bondage for Captain Marvel = 6% 0% #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 40% Highest percentage of overall bondage = #4, 41% 20% 0% #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 An interpretation of the brank, neck collar, leg manacles, chains, and interwoven lasso on a female form. KATE LETH 100% 1948: Kanigher 1965-67: Kanigher takes over sets in the Golden Age 1942: The Holliday Girls first appear 1960-62: Kanigher brings 1954-55: back the Holliday Girls; it doesn't last published, CCA begins 0% 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1942: First appearance 1955: The Comics 1958: Kanigher's new of the Amazons Code Authority is direction for begins 100% implemented 1948: Kanigher takes over 0% 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 Spring 1954: April 1955: May 1958: #73 is the first issue of the Kanigher's new 15% published series to bear the CCA's seal direction for the series begins October 1955: Last issue with 10% of with #98 over 5% bondage 5% 0% 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 90% 1962: Highest percentage of female letter writers = 89% 1972: Lowest percentage of female letter writers = 15% 50% 10% 1961 1968 1975 1961: No ! ads for " girls. Boys Neutral Girls !# $ Highest overall bondage, Highest Wonder Woman "When Treachery Wore a bondage, "The Mysterious 30% Green Shirt" = 32% Prisoners of Anglonia" = 26% Wonder Woman 20% Bondage Overall Bondage 10% 0% 36 9 12 Action Comics, 1987-2011 Adventures of Superman, 1987-2006 Steel, 1994-1998 Superboy, 1994-2002 Superboy, 2011 Superboy and the Ravers, 1996-1998 Supergirl, 1996-2003 Supergirl, 2005-2011 Superman, 1987-2011 Superman Confidential, 2007-2008 Superman: Man of Steel, 1991-2003 Superman/Batman, 2003-2011 Azrael: Agent of the Bat, 1995-2003 Batgirl, 2000-2006 Batgirl, 2009-2011 Batman, 1987-2011 Batman and Robin, 2009-2011 Batman Confidential, 2007-2011 Batman: Gotham Knights, 2000-2006 Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, 1989-2007 Batman: Shadow of the Bat, 1992-2000 Batman: Streets of Gotham, 2009-2011 Catwoman, 1993-2001 Catwoman, 2002-2008 Detective Comics, 1987-2011 Nightwing, 1996-2009 Robin, 1993-2009 Wonder Woman, 1987-2011 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011 TOP LEFT: All Star Comics #8, cover by Everett E. Hibbard, All-American Comics, 1941 The first appearance of Wonder Woman, though she’s not on the cover. She continued to costar in All Star Comics as the secretary of the Justice Society. TOP RIGHT: Sensation Comics #1, cover by H. G. Peter, All-American Comics, 1942 Wonder Woman’s origin story continued here, launching her new series. Wonder Woman starred in the lead story and on the cover of Sensation Comics every month. BOTTOM RIGHT: Wonder Woman #1, cover by H. G. Peter, All-American Comics, 1942 Wonder Woman’s solo series. She starred in every story in each issue, which came out quarterly during the Golden Age. TOP LEFT: Action Comics #1, cover by Joe Shuster, Detective Comics Inc., 1938 The first appearance of Superman, the hero who started the superhero craze. Many imitators followed, which led William Moulton Marston to create Wonder Woman as a counter to the genre’s “blood-curdling masculinity.” TOP RIGHT: Captain America Comics #1, cover by Jack Kirby, Timely Comics, 1941 The first appearance of Captain America, an American super soldier, punching Hitler before America even entered World War II. BOTTOM LEFT: Whiz Comics #2, cover by C. C. Beck, Fawcett Comics, 1940 The first appearance of Captain Marvel. He was less violent than other heroes but enjoyed demonstrating his superior strength, while Wonder Woman only used force as a last resort. TOP: Wonder Woman sketch by H. G. Peter, 1941 An original design of the character, with notes by Marston and Peter. The skirt was soon replaced by briefs, and the sandals became boots. H. G. PETER; IMAGE COURTESY OF HERITAGE AUCTIONS (WWW.HA.COM) BOTTOM: Etta Candy vs. the Cheetah sketch by H. G. Peter, 1943 Etta Candy, the stalwart leader of the Holliday Girls, boxes with the felonious Cheetah. H. G. PETER; IMAGE COURTESY OF HERITAGE AUCTIONS (WWW.HA.COM) LEFT: The Wonder Woman team, from Wonder Woman #2, All-America Comics, 1942 From left to right, writer William Moulton Marston, artist H. G. Peter, editor Sheldon Mayer, and publisher Max Gaines. BOTTOM: The Marstons and friends at home, 1944 From left to right, Marston’s live-in lover Olive Byrne (note the large bracelets), occasional Wonder Woman writer Joye Murchison, Marston’s wife Elizabeth Holloway Marston, and Marston himself. IMAGE COURTESY OF PETE AND CHRISTIE MARSTON Ad for Gillette razors, LIFE magazine, October 24, 1938 Marston shows how the lie detector proves Gillette’s superiority. Though a Harvard-educated psychologist, Marston was a bit of a huckster as well. LEFT: Alice Marble, from Wonder Woman #1, All-American Comics, 1942 The former tennis star and associate editor of Wonder Woman, enjoying the series’ first issue. Marble worked on sixteen issues of the series and wrote the regular “Wonder Women of History” feature. BOTTOM LEFT: Sensation Comics #13, cover by H. G. Peter, DC Comics, 1943 Wonder Woman strikes against Hitler, Hirohito, and Mussolini in this wartime issue. BOTTOM RIGHT: Wonder Woman #10, cover by H. G. Peter, DC Comics, 1944 Wonder Woman halts an alien invasion, ultimately ending the conflict by negotiating a trade agreement between Earth and Saturn. RIGHT: Venus with Us by William Moulton Marston, Sears Publishing, 1932 The classier, original cover for Marston’s sex romp novel about Julius Caesar. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE BOOK COLLECTOR’S LIBRARY (WWW.TBCLRAREBOOKS.COM) BOTTOM: The Private Life of Julius Caesar by William Moulton Marston, Universal, 1952 Venus with Us retitled and recovered as a pulp novel featuring scores of nude women to better reflect the lascivious story inside. IMAGE COURTESY OF HANG FIRE BOOKS (WWW.HANGFIREBOOKS.COM) TOP LEFT: Wonder Woman #103, cover by Ross Andru and Mike Espositio, DC Comics, 1959 New artists updated Wonder Woman’s look in the Silver Age, replacing Peter’s classic style with a more conventional aesthetic and a tweaked costume design. TOP RIGHT: Crime SuspenStories #22, cover by Johnny Craig, EC Comics, 1954 The cover that doomed William Gaines’s testimony before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency when he had to declare that it was “in good taste.” BOTTOM LEFT: The seal of the Comics Code Authority The mark of the organization that monitored comic book content for decades. TOP LEFT: Justice League of America #1, cover by Murphy Anderson, DC Comics, 1960 For a decade, Wonder Woman was the only female member of DC’s superhero team— now a full member and not just the secretary. TOP RIGHT: Wonder Woman #105, cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, DC Comics, 1959 Robert Kanigher loved fantastical creatures, and giant birds were a common foe for Wonder Woman during the Silver Age. BOTTOM RIGHT: Wonder Woman #125, cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, DC Comics, 1961 Steve Trevor and Mer-Man fight over Wonder Woman. Her refusal to choose between them constantly agitated both suitors. TOP LEFT: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #16, cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye, DC Comics, 1960 In the Silver Age, Superman pretends to be hurt by Lois’s Kryptonite vision to teach her a lesson. Every female character in the Silver Age, including Wonder Woman, had to put up with a domineering boyfriend. BOTTOM LEFT: Sensation Comics #94, cover by Arthur Peddy, DC Comics, 1949 The comic may look like a stereotypical romance on the outside, but inside Wonder Woman constantly made Sapphic references. BOTTOM RIGHT: Wonder Woman #124, cover by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, DC Comics, 1961 Queen Hippolyta, Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl, and Wonder Tot often teamed up as the Wonder Family. TOP: Ad for “The New Wonder Woman” in Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #92, DC Comics, 1969 DC Comics’ in-house ads for a revamped Wonder Woman targeted female readers directly, promising romance and intrigue. RIGHT: Wonder Woman #178, cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano, DC Comics, 1968 The Bronze Age Wonder Woman abandoned her superpowers and her classic costume in favor of a new, mod look. TOP LEFT: Wonder Woman #180, cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano, DC Comics, 1969 A weeping Diana Prince, a common occurrence throughout the mod era. TOP RIGHT: Wonder Woman #203, cover by Dick Giordano, DC Comics, 1972 Samuel Delany’s muddled “Special! Women’s Lib Issue,” the series’ only attempt to address the women’s liberation movement. LEFT: Mike Sekowsky and Joyce Miller, DC Comics Publicity Photo, 1969 Sekowsky uses a fashionable model as inspiration for his Wonder Woman art. TOP RIGHT: Wonder Woman #189, cover by Mike Sekowsky and Dick Giordano, DC Comics, 1970 Diana Prince strafes a Chinese fighter jet with a machine gun, one of her many uncharacteristically violent escapades in the mod era. BOTTOM LEFT: Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #109, cover by Dick Giordano, DC Comics, 1971 The Bronze Age Lois Lane has had quite enough of Superman. They broke up a few issues later, and the newly independent Lois stood in stark contrast to Diana Prince’s chronic need for male attention. BOTTOM RIGHT: Detective Comics #359, cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson, DC Comics, 1967 The first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. As a nonsuperpowered crime fighter, Batgirl was the feminist heroine Diana Prince should have been.